Campbell's Soup Painting

Ali Hassoun was born in Saida (Lebanon) in 1964. In 1982 he moved to Italy to continue his studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. In 1992 he graduated from the city’s university with a degree in Architecture. He now lives and works in Milan. He has added Italian nationality to his Lebanese nationality, and has thus been able to fill in areas that were lacking in his own individual experience. The most easily identifiable theme of his painting is travel, contributing different experiences and visions. Ali Hassoun’s works seem to act as a pole of attraction for various cultures, which merge to create a new, richer culture. In opposition to the clash of civilzations, Hassoun wants to highlight the idea of “humanity”; a universal and spiritual feature that is common to all folks, and that always come first, before any political or religious division. The artist becomes a sort of cultural translator, and different traditions can coexist in the perfectly balanced space of his colourful paintings. Islamic and African characters are all caught in a game of smart quotations and indirect exchanges between the main action and the background.